Summary

Aziz agreed to fight with the Special Lashkar in exchange for his brother, Ali’s, medical care after Ali was badly injured when the Taliban bombed a bazaar in the Afghan city of Orgun. Promised to be given the opportunity to get revenge for his brother’s injury, Aziz eventually not only killed Gazan, the man responsible for Ali’s injury, but also turned into the very person he wanted to kill.

In Chapter 1, Aziz remembers his first years living with his parents in the village of Sperkai, a village that had since been destroyed. Aziz’s father had served under the Taliban. The village was attacked after he and his group returned home early and disobeyed orders to extort taxes. Ali and Aziz had been out collecting pine nuts. They watched as the living and dead villagers were shoved into a...